MPBAGS Chapter 11

"You want to help me?"

Why was the male lead trying to get on the villainess's good side? Was he grateful because he saw me save Kanna?

"Yes. If I may dare, to—to you."

The male lead lowered his eyes. Was he being shy?

No way, this wasn't turning into a 'I just want to live comfortably as a villainess, so why are you doing this to me!' route, was it? We agreed last time to be rivals competing over the female lead. Well. I decided that on my own... Come to think of it, that's unfair? You glared at me like I was a ghost.

The male lead's voice, which should remain steady even if stabbed, trembled slightly. This definitely seemed like a flag had been planted. Looking back on my romance fantasy experience, I was sure of it.

This was bad! I'd been so busy trying to escape being a villainess that the male lead seemed to have fallen for me. Was I an idiot?

"How foolish. Not knowing your place."

Right. I should've known my place. I'd underestimated villainess possession stories. But we only met once. Isn't this male lead just face-obsessed? Though to be fair, most romance fantasy characters were face-obsessed.

Anyway, this was bad. I thought I'd only stolen the female lead's affection, but apparently I'd stolen the male lead's attention too.

Fine. It's a romance fantasy, I get it. But the problem was my two days of all-nighters writing villainess escape plans just became trash. Right. What's the point of me planning so hard? The fastest and surest method is becoming the female lead.

But I have no intention of dating the male lead! He's a paper doll and I'm a person.

"I have no interest in you."

Oops. In my rush to shake him off, I'd deployed "I'm not interested in you." I'm such an idiot! At this point, my subconscious clearly wanted to do a romance fantasy route. Now that I'd planted the flag, trying to distance myself would just make him cling harder.

"Yes. I suspected that you had no interest in people."

The male lead answered as if it were obvious. What's with this reaction? When you say you're not interested, isn't he supposed to respond like, 'How dare you not be interested in me?' And "no interest in people"—that phrasing was a bit strange.

But the strangest thing was that despite me saying I wasn't interested, the male lead showed no lingering attachment. Hadn't he been interested in me? Did I misunderstand? But to accept it so meekly, do you *eat rice mixed with social cues? What are you, some kind of mind reader? Usually characters who are this oblivious get roasted by readers in the comment section.

"Still, it doesn't matter. I'm simply curious about you."

See! See, I told you! Don't underestimate my career of once living and breathing romance fantasy novels!

The male lead said those cringeworthy words without a single twitch, as if sugar water flowed in his veins instead of blood. If anything, I was the one getting chills listening. Of course, since Evangeline's body also had romance fantasy blood flowing through it, I didn't actually get real chills from hearing such tooth-achingly sweet lines.

Romance fantasy novels were terrifying. As I trembled internally, the male lead mercifully changed the subject and continued his explanation about the drawing.

Looking at the moth drawing again brought peace to my mind and body.

"This circle. We didn't realize until we moved the body, but it wasn't a halo—it was closer to a pattern."

The male lead pointed at the squiggly lines that looked like the moth's antennae and pulled out another paper. It was broken up, so how was this a circle?

And I was shocked when I saw the newly produced paper.

'Crazy, what is this! This is the summoning circle Donau stole from me!'

I thought it burned with the house!

A tearful reunion. In my emotion I looked again, then realized something was wrong. The annotation-like text at the bottom was gone and the paper looked new...

"This is that pattern. I copied it and then burned the drawing on the floor."

Ah. This was also drawn by the male lead.

Wait. You drew this too? You copied this perfectly but drew a moth for the other one? Are you a STEM major?

I calmed my excitement and settled down. The male lead's drawing skills weren't what mattered.

So this wasn't my paper—it was the male lead copying what Donau had drawn on the floor. The original burned. Then I'd never be able to read the summoning spell. I'd thought it was just gone and let go of my attachment, but having just the drawing return left me feeling empty. Farewell, Spirit King...

"Did the painter who drew Donau's corpse clearly depict this pattern in the painting?"

"Except for the parts covered by the body, it's identical."

So he's spreading around my isekai cheat key without permission. I got annoyed at the painter whose face I didn't even know, then cooled down. Since part of it was covered and I failed too, they wouldn't be able to summon spirits without the incantation anyway.

The male lead seemed to have finished what he came to say. He was just staring at my mouth now, waiting to see what I'd say.

I looked at the male lead's unnecessarily handsome face and the summoning circle, agonizing before deciding to just tell him. Obviously I wasn't swayed by his looks.

"I didn't go looking for Donau because Kanna was kidnapped. It was because he ran off with my drawing."

"You mean this?"

"Yes."

"My lady."

Henna called me worriedly. Don't worry! I'll package it well when I tell him.

I needed to get that paper back too. And there was nothing good about antagonizing the male lead. He said he'd take my side, so I might as well trust him and just tell.

From the situation, the male lead seemed to have fallen for me, so at least he wouldn't screw me over. This way I actually felt more confident.

"Please, could you explain what this pattern is?"

"It's a summoning circle."

"What does it summon?"

"Well..."

Of course I couldn't honestly bring up spirits, so I'd have to be vague and roundabout... Instead of the fire spirit, what should I say?

What did these isekai romance fantasy people believe in? The Sun God Rahel? At this level it was practically a theocracy. There was no other option. I'd just say that.

"It seems to summon an angel."

The male lead gazed at me steadily before slowly nodding.

He actually believes me? He doesn't believe Donau received God's blessing but believes the circle summons angels? Is he just believing whatever the person he's fallen for says?

Is this seriously the level of isekai romance fantasy male leads?

She was an uncommonly pale existence. If you closed your eyes, you'd truly believe she was a statue. That pallid coloration contributed no small amount to making Evangeline Rohanson seem like something alien, removed from this mortal world.

The series of movements from picking up the teacup on the table to taking a sip appeared natural at first glance, yet somehow felt like a staged performance.

"...I want to help you."

It was the moment Gabriel finished speaking.

Evangeline Rohanson, who had been savoring the tea's aroma with a languid attitude, set down her cup. The carelessly placed cup struck the saucer with a clatter, as if representing her mood. The tea rippled as if about to overflow, then found its center and settled.

Once the tea's surface calmed, silence flowed.

Everything around them seemed to hold its breath, reading Evangeline Rohanson's mood. Birds stopped flying mid-flight and fell. Flower petals tried to rebud themselves to avoid being stirred by wind.

When the majestically performing orchestra ceased playing, nothing remained in the world but the sound of a beating heart.

"You want to help me?"

Evangeline asked Gabriel as if looking at the most foolish thing in the world.

When Evangeline opened her mouth, every sound burst forth at once, like exhaling held breath.

As the clock hands began moving again, the tick-tock of the second hand and the heartbeat sounded off-rhythm. The clock's second hand felt peculiarly slow. Gabriel soon realized it wasn't the clock that was slow—his own heart was beating fast.

"Yes. If I may dare, to you."

Even words wouldn't come out properly. Each utterance left him breathless.

"How foolish. Not knowing your place."

Evangeline Rohanson sighed.

Though indoor lighting couldn't possibly flicker, the light seemed to shift direction, casting Evangeline Rohanson's shadow over Gabriel.

"I have no interest in you."

Anger appeared in indifferent eyes, and the red corners of her mouth twisted as she spat contempt. With the polite formal speech that had maintained outward courtesy now gone, her tone of human disdain showed clearly.

Gabriel affirmed it.

Did humans take interest in ants crawling in swarms through their garden? He should be grateful for such mercy—that she hadn't crushed them for idle amusement. Even if she did trample the ant colony, it wouldn't be a sin since she hadn't noticed.

Evangeline was angry that a worthless ant had entered her house.

"I'm simply curious about you."

Though the direction was negative, drawing emotion from Evangeline Rohanson was quite encouraging. It felt like witnessing an impossible flower bloom from a withered, skeletal dead tree.

When Evangeline grew angry, the table trembled in resonance. The teacup on top jolted. Just when it seemed everything would collapse, the trembling stopped.

Evangeline sipped her tea again as if she'd never shown a ferocious air. Yet even while moistening her throat, her gaze remained fixed on Gabriel.

Fortunately, she seemed unwilling to shed the Evangeline Rohanson mask just yet. When Evangeline appeared to calm, the maid who'd seemed ready to faint beside her breathed a sigh of relief.

Gabriel continued his explanation.

Gabriel looked at the Rohanson estate. It was a gloomy mansion unsuited to the midday afternoon. Though there should be no small number of employees, it was strangely quiet with no sign of human presence.

Only the cherry blossoms blooming profusely in one corner of the garden were particularly red. Gabriel quietly gazed at the clothing fluttering from weeping cherry tree branches and the limp white feet dangling down.

"Commander, you're late?"

Raphaela, who'd been waiting in the carriage parked outside the Rohanson estate, greeted Gabriel. Raphaela looked at the cherry tree Gabriel had been observing and added:

"That's quite a large tree. Do cherry trees normally grow that big?"

As Raphaela said, it was an unusually mature tree—whatever fertilizer they used was anyone's guess.

When Gabriel looked again, the doll hanging from the cherry tree had disappeared. Had the scene he'd just witnessed been a mistake—seeing the drooping petals swaying?

Translator Note:

*"눈치로 밥 말아 먹음" - literally "eating rice mixed with social awareness/cues" - meaning someone is so socially aware/perceptive that they live on social cues alone